. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . oliage,is the cypress. Willow, &c. Of the willow, called Salix, from the Latin wordwhich signifies to spring up, and so denominatedon acco\mt of the great rapidity of its growth, thereare many species,—of which not fewer than onehundred and forty-one have been enumerated by SirJames Smith. Some of these, however, very muchresemble each other, so that the species of willows arenot .so well defined as those of some other trees. Ofthis great number, it will be necessary to mention THE WILLOW, ETC. 127
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . oliage,is the cypress. Willow, &c. Of the willow, called Salix, from the Latin wordwhich signifies to spring up, and so denominatedon acco\mt of the great rapidity of its growth, thereare many species,—of which not fewer than onehundred and forty-one have been enumerated by SirJames Smith. Some of these, however, very muchresemble each other, so that the species of willows arenot .so well defined as those of some other trees. Ofthis great number, it will be necessary to mention THE WILLOW, ETC. 127 onlv four—two, which are chiefly used in the manu-facture of baskets, one which is a timber tree, andanother which is used principally as an ornament. The basket-makine^ willows—at least, those mostijenerally and frequently used for that purpose (forbaskets may be made of the twigs of many others)—are the Osier {Salix vi7ninalis); and the YellowIFillow (Salix vittlUna); the timber-tree is theWhite Willow (Salix alba); and the ornamentalone, the Weeping Willow {Salix Babylonica).. Oiier—Salii viminalis. The osier is a native of most parts of Europe, andgrows spontaneously in fenny places. When allowed,it becomes a small tree, but it is generally cut downfor basket-work. The osier grows very rapidly; andis used only for the coarser basket-work, unless whensplit into pieces. On the banks of large rivers, osierbeds may be planted with great advantage; and theosier will also thrive in dry situations if the soil begood. Cuttings of osiers take root very readily, and 128 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. it is not of much consequence which end of them beput into the ground. They are of great use in givingconsistency to banks and embankments, which are iudanger of being washed away. There are manyosier-beds in tlie Thames, which are generahy cutabout once in three years, and are very profitable totheir proprietors. The shoots of the yellow willow are much moreslender than those of the o
Size: 1673px × 1493px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorsoc, bookcentury1800, bookiddescriptionhisto00sociuoft
